Putting the right options on your car can impact used values

Motorists should take more care with the options they fit to their new car as making the right decision could improve used values by hundreds of pounds according to a Manheim Auctions survey. Worryingly, making the wrong decision can cost drivers literally thousands.

Manheim, which has 19 auction sites across the UK, quizzed nearly 100 of its top used car buyers for their views on the impact of optional extras on the second hand values of cars in the Family, Compact Executive and Executive car sectors.

Desirable options, now expected on virtually all types of car include leather, metallic paint and a decent sound system. Satellite Navigation is increasingly sought after and healthy premiums are paid for cars with this as a factory fitted option.

Not surprisingly it’s the luxury cars in the Executive sector which are most sensitive to the right specification. There is a huge price reduction for having the wrong gear box – the survey showed that having a manual transmission on larger Executive cars is highly undesirable and can reduce values by as much as £2,500!

Used car buyers also said that the wrong colour paint can also make a car so unpopular that they wouldn’t even bid on it at auction, especially in a solid rather than a metallic paint finish. Nearly all buyers agreed that after-market options fitted during a car’s life may add some value but nothing like that of factory fitted options.

The mantra for drivers is that well specified new cars can help reduce rather than increase a car’s overall cost of ownership which heavily influences future used values. That’s quite often the reason why professional contract hire companies provide luxury cars such as BMWs and Mercedes with free metallic paint as they will see the benefits at the back end of the contract in better used prices.

Commenting on the research, Rob Barr, Manheim’s Group Communications Director said: “This research simply reflects what trade buyers think and it’s these guys who really determine the price of used cars. The message is simple – motorists should ignore options at their peril when buying their next new car. They may be lucky and get it right but if they get it wrong, they’ll suffer the financial consequences.”